Preparing to teach the HTML Fundamentals class at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington, this summer, I did a quick bit of research on web browsers to check the current status of the browser marketplace. While not surprised, I was rather taken aback at the downfall of Internet Explorer and fast rise of Chrome.

According to StatCounter, from July 2008 to May 2012, while Firefox and Opera have mostly plateaued, Internet Explorer usage has dropped significantly on a steady downhill slope. Chrome has countered it with a steep incline since its release at the end of 2008. According to Wikipedia, Chrome now represents 33% worldwide share of the browser market, closely followed by Internet Explorer and Firefox, leaving the rest in the dust.

Chrome was originally released for Windows only. In 2009 a Mac OS X version was released along with a Linux version. In May 2010, Google released…